1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a light emitting diode having a magnetic structure, and more particularly, to a light emitting diode that includes a magnetic structure composed of passivation layers and a magnetic layer inside a luminous structure composed of an active layer and a semiconductor layer to improve luminous efficiency, and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Light emitting diodes are semiconductor devices that generate light through recombination of holes and electrons. With various advantages such as low power consumption, vibration resistance, rapid response, high luminous efficiency similar to fluorescent lamps, and the like, light emitting diodes are broadly used as various forms of light sources for displays, electronic devices, lighting devices, and the like. Various studies have been made to enhance efficiency of such light emitting diodes so as to keep up with the trend of increasing expansion of application ranges of the light emitting diodes.
In the related art, an additional magnetic layer is inserted into a light emitting diode in order to improve efficiency of the light emitting diodes through change of behavior of charge carriers within the light emitting diode.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a typical light emitting diode having a magnetic layer. Referring to FIG. 1, the light emitting diode includes a buffer layer 20, a first conductive type semiconductor layer 30, an active layer 40, a second conductive type semiconductor layer 50, a reflective electrode layer 60, and a magnetic layer 80 sequentially stacked on a substrate 10 in an upward direction, in which a second electrode 70 is formed on an exposed region of the first conductive type semiconductor layer 30. The magnetic layer 80 generates a magnetic field and can improve recombination rate of electrons and holes for light emission by affecting the electrons and the holes carrying charges in the light emitting diode.
However, such a typical light emitting diode can has a structural constraint in generation of a magnetic field which can affect behavior of charge carriers. FIG. 2 is a graph depicting magnitudes and directions of a magnetic field applied to an active layer depending upon distance to the magnetic layer in the typical light emitting diode. Referring to FIG. 2, it can be seen that the magnitude of the magnetic field applied to the active layer within the light emitting diode is highest at side surfaces of the active layer. As such, although the typical light emitting diode has the magnetic layer formed over an upper surface of the electrode layer, the magnetic field generated by the magnetic layer can provide great influence only on the side surfaces of the semiconductor layer, thereby providing limitation in improvement of luminous efficiency.